Kill Your Darlings
by IWillGoWithYouHarry
Summary: AU: Its 1955. Ten years ago, the wretched World War tore the two lovers apart. And now, after living a different life for the past decade, Harry Potter, a young criminal detective finds himself involved in the Prime Minister's murder, where he re-meets his first love, and now the infamous British actress Hermione Granger, who happens to be the prime suspect of the murder.
1. Prologue: Curtain

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter and friends, neither any of the characters you may recognize. Also, the poem 'Curtain' belongs solely to the poet Helen Spalding.**

* * *

It was on a quiet peaceful evening of 1945 when a young woman, know as Helen to all others, sat by the window as she spotted a young couple exchanging some serious words. Her small mouth tugged a smile as the boy gave a kiss on his lover's forehead, and held her hand. The girl then frowned deeply and searched her beloved's eyes in question as his mouth uttered some soft little apologies. Helen smiled sadly at this peaceful scene. By the crumpling look on the girl's face, she knew that they were parting. The evening sky started to fade its bright colors to pink, bringing this young lady to avert her eyes from such a sad yet a beautiful sight. Helen pitied that couple; they were perfect for each other. They looked so much in love, but their warm hearts were being broken by the disastrous war which had the world shattered for the past three years.

The World War, for the second time, had taken lives of all sorts; the young, the old, the notorious, the innocent, the kind, the harsh, the cold and of course that of many lovers. Helen herself was a victim of this treacherous disaster; she lost her parents to the bombing in Paris the year before. People said that she was miraculously saved but all this young woman wanted was nothing more than to join her parents, and hide behind the stars of the night sky. Yet, as people said, time would pass on and there will be a moment when one must forget their dark nightmares of the past and move on to the future with a bright smile on their face.

Those lovers though didn't deserve to separate. To Helen, they looked naïve young adults of seventeen who had just started to sail on a long, eventful cruise of life. They deserved much more then parting; they deserved a happy bright future together. If it hadn't been for the war, Helen knew that the boy would make his lover something more than what they were now; perhaps his wife? If it hadn't been for the war, she could see the girl stealing kisses from him under that very apple tree by the river they were now parting. If it hadn't been for the war, everything would've been so different.

Sighing to herself, Helen walked into her study, took out her mother's typewriter from the shelf and placed some papers into it. This young lady loved to express her inner emotions and feelings through poetry. All she wanted to do now was to express the awful separation of lovers she saw today. It was quite heartbreaking to see that young girl crying as the boy assured her that it was for the best.

Helen took a huge breath as her nimble fingers started to click on the letters and her feelings started to print themselves on a plain, innocent sheet of paper.

* * *

_**Goodbye. **_

_**Incredulously the laced fingers loosen, **_

_**Slowly sensation by sensation, from their warm interchange, **_

_**And stiffen like frosted flowers in the November garden.**_

_**Already division piles emphasis like bullets; **_

_**Already the one dark air is separate and strange. **_

_**Goodbye.**_

* * *

"Why? Why _are_ you pushing me away?" The girl harbored her fears and quivered at her question as her beautiful golden eyes shed unwanted, salty tears. "Harry, I want to be there for you. I want to hold you and assure you that it will be okay. I want to-"

"Hermione, please," The boy said with a sigh, holding his lady lover by the shoulders. "I lost my father. He meant a lot to me," He paused, pushing back tears. "I lost him in the war-"

"Your father was a martyr," The girl said softly. "He died defending and fighting for his country. And I'm sure he wants you, Lily and Elena to move on. He wants you to be happy."

"Love, you are the only one who brings happiness to my life." The boy said shakily, cupping her freckled cheek, and hypnotizing her with his intense green gaze. "You mean everything to me. I love you so much-"

"Then why do you want us to go in separate ways?" The brunette asked, her eyes glimmering with tears. "If I mean so much to you, if you love me, then why are you pushing me away from you?" She sobbed, enjoying the feel of his soft thumb, grazing over her cheek. "Please answer me, I want to understand!"

The boy looked away, but never released her face from his hands. He wanted the softness of her flushed cheeks to last for next few moments, till he said goodbye to her.

"Because I don't want to lose that one person, who is the reason I'm here," he answered with a small smile. "I don't want to lose another person I love, or rather my precious first love," He paused as his lover kept looking at him with wide eyes. "There is a war going on Hermione. And we never know what the future holds for us. Today I've lost my father, tomorrow it might be you. Who knows that_ I_ die in the next nuclear bomb blast-"

"Don't say that!" She snapped.

"I don't want you to cry over my dead body love. Because I can never see you all heartbroken and moaning over the bloke whom you know for seven long years." He chuckled humorlessly. "Try to understand. I want us to live a life of our own and care more about whatever is going on around us."

"So you mean you _want_ me to stop loving you?" She asked meekly with a sniffle.

His jaw tightened in all seriousness as he gazed deeply into her honey pools. "Yes."

The girl took a huge breath and looked away from him, stiffening under his hold.

_He is right._ Her mind said. _He wants us to break up because he knows we can't afford the loss of our loved ones. He is doing this to keep me safe, keep himself safe-_

"Hermione." His voice brought her eyes to meet his, when he kissed her forehead and let his lips linger longer on her soft skin. She closed her eyes and took in the smell of his musk. Maybe this would be the very last time she was taking it in. Maybe this was the last time they were going to be like this. She could feel the cold air hit against her body in the warm June weather as he pulled back.

"I love you." He said softly when she gave him a cold look.

"Don't say that if you don't mean it." She said in possibly the calmest voice she could speak in and turned around to leave.

It was all over; they were done.

The boy swallowed the lump in his throat as he watched her walk away. He knew that it was painful to see her in tears, crying for their love which briefly existed. Then again, it hurt him too. He felt like a dozens of metal bullets being shot at him, while his heart bled mercilessly from despair. One moment, they were lovers. And the next they were strangers, unknown to each other, with no strings attached between them. To him, the warm weather seemed to be icy and cold without her.

Now for every spring with blooming flowers that would pass, there will be a gloomy autumn where trees shed their leaves, leaving them all dried and crumpled.

* * *

_**There is no touch now. **_

_**The wave has broken **_

_**That for a moment charged the desolate sea. **_

_**There is a word or two left to be spoken **_

_**-yet who would hear it? When so swiftly distance **_

_**Out measures time, engulfs identity?**_

* * *

She sat by the windowsill as the pitter- patter of raindrops echoed in her ears. Her eyes were all swollen and crimson; they looked dead. Her pale face looked blue, as if it were freshly taken out of ice, all frozen and cold. If it wasn't for the war, she would've been with the man she had given her heart to.

There was a bomb drop in London a week ago. There were many casualties, deaths and injuries. The beautiful city was now a complete wreck. However, what mattered to her was _his_ life. What if he was dead? What if he lost an arm or a leg? What if-?

_Come off it! You don't love him anymore!_ Her mind screamed, bringing her to wince. She knew she had to take her mind out of those haunting old memories she had with him; His touches, his kisses, the way he held her, the way loved her, the way he looked, the way he smiled, the way he cried, the way he spoke ...

"No!" She said to herself, wanting to cry. But those tears never came out. "It was all a dream. A bad dream. I need to get out of it!" She shuddered at the thunder and hugged her legs closer to her chest. "If I could handle myself being without him for a month, I can always learn to live without him." She whispered to herself.

"Hermione!" Her mother called out. "Dinner's ready!"

"Coming mum!" She called back shakily, taking her time to get up. The girl knew that forgetting him would soon not be a pretense; she would forget him completely for her sake, for his sake, for their love's sake...

_Love_, what a corny little word. They said that you get only one chance to fall in love. However love does awful things to you, it's like a game. This girl loved a guy, who left her for her protection. Maybe he wanted her to find love in someone else; someone who would protect her for eternity? Yes, maybe that was it.

She sniffled and stood on her cold, numb feet as the thunder stroke again. Whatever happened now, she had to stand strong. It was her fight. It was her life to live. That boy was her past, her everything. But now, it was time to move on and meet other men who could be better than _him_. She was a smart one; she knew it was time to forget _him _and look forward to a bright, challenging coming days.

She knew that nothing could stop her from facing the storm; not God, not her mind, and not even _him._

It was time to change, and she swore to herself that she would.

She swore on him that she would label him with her nightmares and bury him into the coffin of her past.

After all, Hermione Granger was an emotionally strong young woman.

* * *

_**Already like the dreamer startled from sleep **_

_**And the vivid image lost even in the waking, **_

_**There is no taste now for the shrunken sense to keep, **_

_**And these, the dreamer's eyes, are not alive to weep, **_

_**And this, the clinic heart, the dreamer's is not breaking.**_

* * *

"Harry dear, is something bothering you?"

The young man of seventeen averted his eyes from the bedroom ceiling and looked into his identical emerald eyes as his mother gave him a smile and sat next to his body.

"Nothing mum." The boy muttered and sat up abruptly. "It's nothing-"

"Is it Hermione?" His mother softly asked.

He hadn't heard or spoken of that Shakespearian name in the past two months. That lovely name was something which was bothering him. He wasn't able to forget her. Was she safe? Had she moved on? Was she seeing other men?

"Honey," his mother kept a comforting arm on his knee. "You have a long life to live and meet many other girls. Losing the first one isn't something to brood about-"

"Mum, I wasn't-"

"Don't lie to me. I know you very well." His mother said sternly. "Hermione was an amazing girl. But I guess, she wasn't yours to keep."

_Mum's right._ He thought. _We were never meant to be._

"Anyway, I've baked treacle tarts and they are waiting for you in the kitchen." She changed the topic of discussion with a huge smile. "Come over and grab them before Ellie attacks on them."

The boy chuckled as his mother placed a kiss on his head and left him to his privacy. He knew that mothers knew the best. Maybe his former lover wasn't that girl he wanted to spend his life with. Sure he had imagined proposing to her with a ring while having champagne some day but, maybe the war broke it all. Why couldn't the bloodshed come to rest when they were together? Why now?

The lad knew that he had to forget her. It was hard, but eventually time would pass by and he would be the man of his very own world. The next thing he did was spring onto his legs to find his father's lighter kept in the store, along with their picture.

He smiled dearly at her smile, and noticed how her chocolate eyes glimmered in glee. He had his arms around her waist and his chin on her shoulder. They looked perfect, yet they weren't.

He clicked the lighter to illuminate and introduced the piece of his memory to the fire. This was the only way to forget, and see what future held for him. This girl, his first love was now in his past. There was a lot of time in his hands to search the love of his life.

"I'm sorry Hermione." He murmured softly, as her face started to burn to ashes. "Goodbye. Take care."

With those ashes, the boy had buried his past. And a young man called Harry Potter came into being; all strong and ferocious.

* * *

_**Is it so easy then? Goodbye no more then this **_

_**Quiet disaster? And is there a cause for sorrow **_

_**That in this small white murder of one kiss **_

_**Are born two ghosts, two Hamlets, two soliloquies **_

_**Two worlds apart, tomorrow?**_

* * *

**A/N: HAPPY 2014 GUYS!**

**I know its ten days late to say this, but still ... This story happens to be my very first one in 2014!**

**My Dramione 'Of Laws Love and Magic' got an amazing response last year ... Although, I want this story to get an amazing response because-**

**a) It's a Harry-Hermione story, my beloved OTP for the past eleven years.**

**b) I've got my amazing friend to beta read/write this story.**

**c) I thought it was a good way to start this 'Har-Mioneous' New Year.**

**d)IT'S MY 18TH B'DAY TOMORROW!**

**It really is guys. No jokes. :| **

**So feel free to shower me with happiness by favoriting, following or reviewing this story because I don't mind :P**

**This was just a depressing beginning, but I swear to you that I have an amazing plot written in rough for this one. Believe me when I say that.**

**So go on! Click on that cute little 'Review' button down there ^^**

**P.S: I don't own the title of the story. I named it so, because it matches perfectly with my plot ;)**

**P.P.S: Sorry to bother all my followers for the third time with the story alert. This chapter wasn't uploading properly.**


	2. Chapter 1: Ten Years Later

**A/N: I Know … I know, it's been a month. I can't blame being on a writer's block, seeing I've been having final terms lately and I apologize for that.**

**HAPPY VALENTINES DAY! HOPE ALL THE LOVERS AND COUPLES ARE HAVING A GREAT DAY, WHILE ALL THE SINGLE LADIES (like me) AND LADS ARE HAVING AN AMAZING SINGLE LIFE AS WELL! **

**February has been a Harmonius month for us Harmionians (*cough* Romione shippers *cough*). I hope this month keeps up its spirit of Harmione and love.**

**And …. Moving on!**

* * *

The sun beams of mid April traced their path through the window, falling on the sleeper's eyes, bringing him to groan and flip onto his front, to hide his face from the morning light. The moment his consciousness started to drain off, the rapid ringing of his alarm brought him to moan in dismay and smack it on the top. After some moments of laziness, the young man of twenty six decided to flutter his emerald eyes, his gaze falling on the fan embedded on the ceiling of his room.

Harry Potter gave a huge yawn like a little boy and gave his unshaven subttle a rub. Groggily getting on his feet, he grabbed his robe from the hook, and put it on, deciding to make himself presentable to his sister. This young man hated mornings. Well, who liked to wake up like an early bird and tweet to the rising sun with their hearts content? It was for sure that Mister Potter wasn't one of them.

After losing his father to the World War and his mother to a common disease, Harry was given loads of responsibilities, including the Potter estate in Edinburgh, and also his twenty two year old sister, Elena.

The Potter siblings got along with each other and had been each other's support after losing both their parents at a very crucial time. Harry was just a second year student of Criminology at Oxford University, while Elena was a high school student of fifteen when Lily Potter was diagnosed with tuberculosis and granted a few months to live. The elder Potter rushed to his sick mother and promised to be a good protective elder brother to her little princess. Every night after Lily's death, Elena used to sneak into her brother's bed and used to weep her hearts out into his chest. Harry never minded; he knew shedding a few tears was okay and that's what made a person stronger.

And here they were, seven years later, together, living a happy life, earning for their own yet committed to each other. The events which took place in the past decade had changed the Potter siblings. It was a chaotic turn of events; in a good way.

Harry wiped his freshly shaven jaw with a towel and then padded along the hallway till he reached the last door. Smiling to himself, he slowly tip-toed inside to find his sister soundlessly sleeping on her bed with a huge smile plastered on her face. Sitting softly next to her sleeping body, Harry brushed her fiery red mane off her beautiful face and leaned in to place a soft kiss on her forehead. Elena then shifted at his touch and giggled slightly, opening her mocha brown eyes to meet his emerald ones.

"Fancy seeing you here brother." Elena said with a yawn. "Why are you staring at me like a creep?"

"Oh, now I am not allowed to wake my sister up on her birthday?" Harry said with mocking hurt look on his face. "Ouch." He added with a drawl.

Elena gave out a chuckle and sat up on the bed, leaning against the headboard. "You just want to make sure that you're the first one to wish me." She accused him, in a playful manner.

"Of course I want to be the first one to wish you!" Harry exclaimed. "I want to beat your scum of a boyfriend in wishing you-"

"How _dare_ you call Derek a scum!?" Elena screamed in mock annoyance as her small fists started to punch Harry's muscled chest. Her brother chuckled, dodged her moves and finally pulled her into a hug.

"Okay, here's the deal." Harry said in a businesslike manner as his sister nuzzled into his chest. "I won't call Derek anything only if you me hit him if he breaks your heart."

"I will let you hit him if he breaks my heart." Elena said and gave him a puppy dog look with her doe like eyes. "Happy?"

"Happy? I'm delighted." Harry laughed, hugging his sister closer. Elena hugged her brother tightly, knowing that he was the only family she had left. Harry was her everything, moreover her protector. She couldn't blame him though, for he was her big brother and had the rights to keep her in his safe arms.

"Happy birthday Ellie," Harry said, placing a kiss on Elena's head, "I can't believe you're growing up. I am getting old already." He chuckled humorlessly.

"Oh Harry, you're just twenty six. And that's not old age," Elena consoled her brother, "You sound like a sentimental father right now."

Harry's heart clenched at her words, when he felt her soft, nimble hands rubbing his back. "You miss them don't you?" He heard her ask him softly.

"I miss them every day." Elena heard her brother say with a quiver.

"I miss them everyday too." She said with a tone matching her brother's.

An eerie silence fell in the room. After finding some comfort in Harry's arms, Elena spoke again. "Harry, can we visit them today. I really miss mum and dad."

Harry smiled to himself and placed a kiss on Elena's head saying "Maybe we should. I've been wanting to see them for months."

* * *

Other than being a big loving brother to an amazing sister, Harry James Potter was a young criminal detective, who worked for the British Intelligence. In the past four years of his career, Harry had solved more than twenty cases and was titled 'The New Sherlock Holmes of London' by his seniors. Being very dedicated to his work and colleagues, Harry had been given the title of Chief Detective last year, bringing his sister to cry out of pride. He had earned respect from everyone, which also included Her Royal Highness' herself. She had always been fond of Mister Potter's sly yet honest manner of solving cases that she christened him as 'Sir Potter' in the eyes of all her fellow citizens.

Harry had been wrapping up his work for the day, stacking up all the files into the shelf, puffing a cigarette in his mouth. If Elena found one of those, Harry knew he was a dead man. His sister was obviously not fond of this dirty habit of his. He was almost done with the stacking when there was a knock on his cabin door.

"Come in!" He called out, burning out his cigarette in the ashtray. A man almost two years his junior made an appearance in front of the young detective. It was Derek Hallway, his junior detective and his sister's suitor. His blue eyes looked from Harry, to the ashtray, while his mouth tugged a frown.

"You should be thankful that I am not Elena." Derek said casually as Harry raised an eyebrow.

"You should care more about my sister and not about whatever I do." Harry drawled, "Why are you here Hallway?"

"Actually chief," the young man started, "I wanted your permission."

"For what?" Harry asked.

"Well, it's about your sister."

Harry nodded and motioned Derek to sit down on the couch. "What about Ellie?" He asked, "Are you planning to dump her?"

"No, I would never do that," Derek chuckled nervously. "It's just that, I want to propose to her."

Harry's eyes grew wider at his junior's incredulous words as Derek continued to speak, "I love Elena, I really do. We've been together for two years and she has also been dropping hints as well." Harry gave him a questioning look. "She's been talking about babies and kids lately-"

"Is she pregnant?" Harry question interrupted him harshly.

"Good lord no!" Derek gave out a small laugh. "I know you would murder me alive if Ellie was. She isn't, don't worry. Elena is still as pure as when she was born."

"Then why-?"

"I love her. That's why."

Harry sighed and nodded, motioning Derek to continue.

"I know she wants us to get married one day. And she's young too," Harry nodded. "But I swear to you and on my life that I'll keep her happy, give her everything she wants. I will show her how much she means to me." Derek sighed, "I will let her become whatever she wants to and will also be a continuous support for her. All I need is your blessing."

Harry looked understandingly into Derek's hopeful topaz eyes. All they were saying was 'I would never give you a chance to hit me'. His inner thought brought the chief to smile. Harry knew Derek loved his sister, and all he wanted to be was a physical as well as an emotional support for Elena. That support was being offered right in front of his eyes. Moreover, they were in love. Harry knew that feeling really well, so he couldn't question the love Derek had for his sister.

_Love_ ... When was the last time Harry had fallen in love? It was almost ten years ago when...

"Chief?" Derek's voice brought Harry back to reality. "Are you alright?"

"Like always," Harry said with a grin, "And Derek, call me Harry."

Derek's face lit up like a little child's at his words. "Really?"

"Only when we're not at work," Harry said, "You may have my blessing to marry my sister but remember, you still work under my wing."

Derek gave him a thankful smile as Harry offered a hand to shake.

"Thanks Harry." Derek said, shaking Harry's hand, "It means a lot to me."

"I'm doing this just because I can see how much you love Ellie." Harry said kindly, with a smile, "Speaking of which, when are you going to pop the question?"

"Tonight, I'm taking her for dinner," Derek answered, "I have arranged everything in Hyde Park. I've arranged a gazebo by the Serpentine, and loads of roses and lilies and-"

"You're rambling mate!" Harry chuckled, placing a hand on his shoulder, "I'm sure Elena will love it."

"Well then, I guess I'll take my leave," Derek said cheerfully, getting up on his feet. "Thanks a lot again."

"No problem." Harry smiled, as his future brother in law turned to leave. Harry started to gather his papers on the desk when-

"Have you ever fallen in love?"

His eyes darted to see Derek standing by the door, giving him an inquisitive look.

"Why such a question?" Harry asked.

"I'm sure you must've been with someone before," Derek shrugged. "I mean, you have everything a girl wishes her man to have. And, your sister said that you've been lonely lately. So I just asked." He finished.

Harry merely looked at him when a flash of chocolate brown eyes and that familiar smile came into his mind. Smiling to himself and then at Derek, he answered, "Yes, I did love somebody once. But, circumstances were such that we had to forget each other and move on."

Derek nodded understandingly.

"I know letting her go completely wasn't easy for you," he said, "However as they say, everything happens for a reason." The two men shared a knowing smile. "Anyway, I better get going. I need to pick your sister up."

Harry nodded and watched the young man leave. His heart clenched as her eyes kept haunting his mind. Loving her was like spring; their love of seven years had bloomed gracefully. Everything went well, until war happened. And that was when they had taken separate ways to future.

Harry knew what and where Hermione was now, and was proud of her status and name. He knew being an A-list actor was a tough job to do. However, this was Hermione Granger he was talking about; she was a talented young woman who knew the art of multitasking. She has probably forgotten that she had once fallen in love with a boy called Harry Potter who had broken up with her during the World War. Harry didn't mind though. He wanted her to forget him. That's what he wanted then, didn't he? However, he couldn't deny that he still had a soft spot for that young lady in his heart.

A knock on the door broke him out of his reverie. When Harry didn't reply, the one who intruded his thoughts called out for him.

"Harry, you in there mate?"

It was his co-worker and best friend Ronald Weasley.

"Harry?"

"Come in Ron." Harry called out, when the door opened to reveal his ginger best friend, puffing breathlessly.

"What's wrong?" Harry further asked.

"We've got a new case and it's a highly prioritized one." Ron said between his breaths.

"What is it?"

The ginger gave his friend a bold, serious look and said, "The Prime Minister is dead. Apparently, he has been murdered."

* * *

**A/N: Ooh lala what happens next!? **

**P.S: I thank my Beta and close friend ****Fiction Recipe**** for scolding me for the silly mistakes I made in this chapter and correcting them. For all the Anime fans, you can go and check out the two one shots she has written ^^**

**P.P.S: I'm hoping that there are some 'Elena's' who have read this chapter. So I wanted to ask, if Harry Potter was your older, protective brother, how would you express yourself? It's just a question :)**

**Until next time.**


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